Tilda Swinton in Talks for Marvel’s Doctor Strange!

28May

Howdy people of the internet, time for a news post and today I wish to talk about an interesting bit of casting news that hit the web recently surrounding Marvel’s upcoming Doctor Strange film. The following information comes from superherohype:

The Hollywood Reporter brings word today that Academy Award winner Tilda Swinton (Michael Clayton, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe) is in negotiations to play The Ancient One in Marvel’s Doctor Strange. No stranger herself to comic book roles, Swinton previously starred in the adaptation of Snowpiercer and 2005’s Constantine.

Secured high in the Himalayan mountains, the Ancient One served as a mentor to Stephen Strange and aided him in his ascendance to Sorcerer Supreme. When the character eventually died, Strange was still able to summon him from the spiritual plane in order to aid him. Though the character has traditionally been male in the comic books, THR notes that Marvel was originally searching for male actors but retooled the role to make it a female.

Scheduled to hit theaters November 4, 2016, Doctor Strange is scripted by Jon Spaihts and is said to follow the story of neurosurgeon Dr. Stephen Strange who, after a horrific car accident, discovers the hidden world of magic and alternate dimensions. Scott Derickson will direct the film, which sees Benedict Cumberbatch in the titular role of the Sorcerer Supreme. A previous report noted that 12 Years a Slave star Chiwetel Ejiofor was in talks to play the film’s villain, though this hasn’t been confirmed by the studio.

When I initially read this I was like “Huh? Well that’s, odd.” But when I started to think about it, I started to dig the idea. Now I don’t know too much about the Doctor Strange mythos beyond what I learnt in Marvel Ultimate Alliance and saw in the 90’s Spider-Man cartoon, but even then it isn’t that much. But if Marvel are going with Swinton for this role, then it looks like a totally different version of the character. As far I’m aware the character’s always been a male, was old and had an Asian-looking appearance. And I can see some fans moaning about this casting decision, but in these modern times, gender and race-switching is the in thing, however if the actor chosen is capable and if it serves the purpose of the story then there shouldn’t be any complaints. Tilda Swinton is pretty good actress and while I have seen an extensive amount of her work, what I have seen leads me to believe that she’d excel in a role like this. She was really good in the Narnia Only Lovers Left Alive, Moonrise Kingdom and The Grand Budapest Hotel, just to name a few. If Swinton does end up getting this role it’ll be interesting to see how they update the character and make her fit into the MCU and to see her work with Benedict Cumberbatch seems so cool to me.

So what do you think of this news? Do you think that this is a good role for Swinton or are you troubled by the casting choice and changes from the source material? Please leave your comments below, until next time, peace out! 😀